India’s Abhishek Sharma dropped a catch by West Indies’ Roston Chase (ANI Photo) Former India batsman Parthiv Patel has termed India’s sliding fielding standards as a major concern ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.Despite an impressive run to the last four, India’s haul was far from convincing. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, the side have taken 13 catches so far in the tournament, with their catch efficiency dropping to a competitive 72.7 per cent. In contrast, Pakistan, long criticized for its work in the field, achieved a significantly better success rate of 83.3 percent.“One concern I feel is the fielding and not just the way India fielded at the Eden Gardens. It’s been going on for almost a year and a half now. We’re dropping quite a few catches. That’s something India would definitely like to work on,” Patel told Jio Hotstar.India sealed their semi-final berth with a crushing victory over West Indies at the Eden Gardens, successfully chasing down a target of 190. Patel termed the result as a huge boost for the side.“It was an excellent win. It will be a big confidence booster for India going forward. India won the toss and decided to bowl first because they thought there would be a lot of dew. When the game ended there was no dew at all but the conditions improved a bit. In the knockout game, chasing 190-plus, someone needed to play an outstanding knock and Sanju Samson said he did,” Parth Samson said.“Hats off to the captain. He has scored many hundreds in international cricket, but for me this innings was spot on. Skill-wise, we all know Sanju Samson is a very talented batsman, but fighting these mental battles is very difficult. I thought Sanju Samson did really well. He also spoke about how his experience always showed at the crease. I thought he wasn’t a very good baller in the innings.” he will remember this shift for a long time,” he added.Patel also singled out pace boss Jasprit Bumrah for special praise, highlighting his knack for breaking key partnerships.“Bumrah is not a banker. He is a bank. The way he steps up and bowls, when you want to play a wicket against the in-form Hetmyer, he comes and takes his wicket, then he gets a set of Roston Chase. Of course, India looked up to Jasprit Bumrah most of the time and he has never failed. That is what he is playing the right way now.” to stop the batting is to get him out and Jasprit Bumrah will do that.”Looking ahead to the clash with England, Patel stressed the importance of early breakthroughs against a dangerous batting line-up.“Obviously, India need to get England’s dangerous batting out as quickly as possible. You have Phil Salt, Jose Buttler, who should be running and he likes the Wankhede Stadium. Then you have Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook. So they have a good, solid line-up. It’s a good all-rounder,” concluded their best all-rounder. Obviously it will have to be against England.
